The European Parliament’s legal affairs committee had backed the lifting of immunity for only one of the four MEPs named in a Belgian criminal investigation into lobbying activities linked to Huawei in Brussels.

The decision on Wednesday is likely to be controversial as it is likely to hamper the so-called Huawei-gate probe and must still be confirmed by a vote of the full Parliament later this month.

According to three officials familiar with the confidential vote, the committee voted 14–11 to recommend lifting the immunity of European People’s Party MEP Fulvio Martusciello.

The requests to lift immunity for EPP MEPs Salvatore De Meo and Nikola Minchev, as well as Socialist deputy Daniel Attard, did not secure sufficient support.

The so-called “Huawei-gate” investigation was launched in 2025 after Belgian authorities carried out a series of searches as part of a probe into alleged improper lobbying practices connected to the Chinese technology company Huawei within the European Parliament.

Martusciello, who heads the Italian delegation of the EPP, has emerged as a central figure in the investigation. Belgian prosecutors are examining, among other matters, two letters signed by several MEPs in 2021 concerning Europe’s 5G market, a sector in which Huawei was seeking to strengthen its position. The deputy denied wrongdoing.

The committee voted 18–7 against lifting the immunity of EPP lawmaker Salvatore De Meo, while the request concerning Liberal deputy Nikola Minchev was rejected by 14 votes to 10. For Socialist MEP Daniel Attard, the committee voted 19–6 in favour of the rapporteur’s recommendation, which advised to not lift his immunity.

A request to lift parliamentary immunity does not imply guilt or establish wrongdoing, and its waiver allows judicial authorities to carry out investigative action.

The vote comes at a time when parliamentary immunity cases are increasingly becoming a political battleground, with several recent decisions raising questions about how the European Parliament handles requests from judicial authorities.

Last month, Parliament controversially rejected a request from the European Public Prosecutor’s Office to lift the immunity of EPP lawmaker Angelika Niebler.

The decision sparked criticism that political considerations may be overshadowing what are intended to be legal and procedural assessments, with a growing number of MEPs from across the political spectrum have called for a review of Parliament’s immunity procedures.

Elisa Braun and Eddy Wax contributed to this report

(bw)